Learn more about the Online Chopin Variorum Edition project

The current Online Chopin Variorum Edition (OCVE) project is transforming the way in which we understand Chopin's work by bringing this compositional cornucopia together in one place. Launched in 2005 with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Online Chopin Variorum Edition will eventually provide digital images of all the available primary sources of Chopin's music -- including sketches, complete manuscripts, first editions and later impressions. 

You can see Principal Investigator John Rink, Professor of Musical Performance Studies at the University of Cambridge explain the project here.

The project is now in its second developmental phase running from October 2011 to March 2014, following a pilot study (May 2003 to October 2004) and a first developmental phase (November 2005 to September 2009).

Thousands of pages from these documents are already available, and the entire site is free of charge. Users anywhere in the world can explore, compare and combine elements from the composer's music, comment on it as they go, and ultimately construct their own version of the Chopin work to an extent that has never before been possible.

Project website: www.ocve.org.uk

OCVE is directed by Professor John Rink (University of Cambridge) with additional scholarly research provided by Dr Christophe Grabowski. The technical development is being pursued collaboratively by the Department of Digital Humanities (DDH) at King’s College London and the Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET) at the University of Cambridge under the direction of Paul Vetch and John Norman respectively. Sarah Williams is OCVE Programme Manager.